Investigations revealed that the ship’s cooling system jammed due to a crude oil spill from a tanker owned by Petrotrin, a Trinidadian oil company. Though the boat sailed on for days, it eventually sank.

Local media said it is common for Venezuelans to travel to the island in search of basic medical supplies and other goods currently lacking in their own country. And the three doctors are not the only people who have drowned while looking for solutions to the crisis in Venezuela.

In March 2015, one Venezuelan died while trying to flee the dictatorship via a raft to Aruba. At the time, it drew comparisons to the rafts Cubans often resort to while trying to escape Raul Castro’s oppressive regime.

Later that same year, three Venezuelan students illegally entered Trinidad and Tobago by raft. The women said they decided to leave Venezuela because of the serious economic crisis that the country was facing.